Iranian Border Guards Clash With Taliban In ‘Misunderstanding’
By RFE RL
(RFE/RL) — Iran’s border guards and the Taliban ended clashes along a segment of the border in what Iranian state media reported was a “misunderstanding” from the Afghan side.
The skirmishes “ended with the intervention and negotiation of security forces, and the situation in the area is now calm,” Iranian state media IRNA reported on December 1.
Unverified videos posted by Afghanistan’s Aamaj news agency showed Iranian border guards and Taliban fighters exchanging fire along a border wall near the Afghan province of Nimroz.
A local source in Nimroz told RFE/RL that Iranian forces also used artillery.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing an unnamed source, said that initial reports claiming the Taliban had captured Iranian border posts were false.
There was no mention of casualties by either side.
Iranian state media said the clashes erupted over confusion by the Taliban about the official border line.
Tasnim said Iran erected a border wall a few hundred meters from the official border with Afghanistan to stop smugglers.
Iranian farmers reportedly crossed to the other side of the wall to use the land inside Iran’s borders, but because of the walls the Taliban thought Afghanistan’s borders had been violated.
